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Friday, June 9, 2017

“WE HAVE ALBERT, ANNA AND BLANCHE FIELMAN, CHILDREN OF
AUGUST AND LILLIE BURIED IN JEWELL CEMETERY PLOT 44, BUT ACCORDING TO OUR
RECORDS THERE IS ANOTHER PERSON BURIED THERE AND WE HAVE NO INFORMATION. WOULD
YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHO IT MAY BE? ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
THANKS IN ADVANCE; JEANNIE STROVEN, CLERK DAYTON TOWNSHIP”

When I reviewed my tree for this family I found August
Fielmann was born 19 Oct 1875 in Ottawa, Michigan[1]
to William and Mary Fielmann. August
married Lillie Belle Mack on 15 Nov 1905 in Dayton Township, Newaygo County, Michigan[2]. Lillie was born 2 Jun 1877 in Holton,
Muskegon, Michigan[3] to
James and Elizabeth (Killenbeck) Mack.

Marriage of August and Lillie

I have four children listed for August and Lillie: Mary born 13 Aug 1906[4],
Anna born 2 Aug 1908[5],
Blanche born 22 Feb 1910[6]
and Albert born 23 Apr 1912[7].

In the 1910 US Census, August is enumerated along with
Lillie (as Lillian), Mary, Anna (as Annie), and Blanche in Dayton, Newaygo
County, Michigan.[8] August is a farmer and Lillie is noted to
have borne three children with three living.
Albert was born two years later.

On 22 July 1919, August and Lillie lost their only son, 7
year old Albert, to diphtheria[9].

Albert death certificate

Nine days later on 31 July 1919 their two
youngest daughters Anna (11 years old) and Blanche (9 years old) also died of diphtheria[10]. Their only surviving child was Mary who was
13 years old in 1919.

Blanche death certificate

Anna death certificate

According to Public Health Journal from the Michigan Department of Health there was an outbreak of diphtheria that killed 755 people in Michigan in 1919.[11]

The Mortality
Statistics 1919[12],
there were 12,551 deaths from diphtheria and croup in the U.S. in 1919, with
children under 5 years of age representing 56% of the total.

About six months later, on 5 Jan 1920, August, Lillie and Mary
are still in Newaygo County, Michigan farming[13]. But in 1921 they moved to New York[14].

Springville Journal(Springville, New York), 15 Dec 1921, Thu, Page
5

In 1925, they are found in the New York State
Census in Concord, Erie County, New York[15].

1925 NY State Census detail

Lillie Fielmann died 22 Jun 1926 in Wheeler Hollow, near
Springville, New York after a prolonged illness. She was 49 years old[16]. She was taken back to Michigan for burial.

Springville Journal(Springville, New York), 24 Jun 1926, Thu, Page

August Fielmann died 25 Feb 1927 at home in Wheeler Hollow,
at age 51[17]. He was also returned to Michigan for burial.

Springville Journal(Springville, New York), 03 Mar 1927, Thu, Page 1

In the 1930 US Census, Mary Fielmann is in Springville, Erie County, New York as a
boarder in the household of Libbie Brace.
She is single and noted to be a capper in the drug industry[18]. By 1940, she is married and
has three children of her own.

As a mother, I cannot even begin to comprehend how the loss
of these children affected these parents but I am sure it was life
altering. Perhaps this is why they moved to
New York, to try and escape the memories.
I imagine that the remaining child Mary was also never the same.

The answer to the original question – who is the fourth
person in the cemetery plot – I have no answer.
It was over two years after the wedding that Lillie had Mary. There might have been a first child that died
young or was stillborn. It might be Lillie herself, returned to be buried with her children. It might have
been another relative. We may never know, but the Dayton Township folks are investigating it.